The invention pertains to plastic shopping bags. More particularly, the invention relates to an adapter for use with dispensing racks for expandable plastic film gusseted bags having integral carrying handles.
Expandable plastic film gusseted bags with integral carrying handles, commonly known as T-shirt bags, have been used with vertical mounting racks for some time. Some varieties of these T-shirt bags include a central mounting tab that includes a slit or opening. This mounting tab is disposed over a mounting hook on the rack and used in conjunction with openings in the upper portion of the bag handles to mount the back to the rack. The central mounting tab further serves to constrain the rear wall of bag as it is pulled from the rack so that the bag will open. Typically, the bags employing this type of central mounting tab include a perforation line below the slit or opening in the bag to allow the mounting tab to be torn from the bag as it is removed from the rack, leaving the torn off tab on the mounting hook.
T-shirt style bags have been developed incorporating a rupturable tab opening that includes an upwardly curving cut extending from the slit or opening or similar feature to facilitate tearing the tab upon removal from the rack. In this way, the tab will remain attached to the bag preventing the necessity of removing a wad of bag tabs from the rack when the rack is to be refilled. The present invention may be easily added to current racks designed for such special tab opening T-shirt bags and is designed to facilitate tearing of the upwardly curving cut extending from the slit so that less force and effort is necessary to effect such tearing.
Various designs have been developed for rack mounted bags and dispensers for such bags, incorporating a number of different technologies. U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,580 issued to Beasley et al. describes a self-opening polyethylene bag stack having a central mounting tab. The mounting tab includes a tear-off slit below the mounting slit. Bags of this design leave the mounting tab affixed to the mounting hook of the dispenser when the bag is removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,605 issued to Nguyen discloses a T-shirt style shopping bag with central mounting tab. The mounting tab includes an upwardly angled mounting slit. The slit is designed to tear upon removal of a bag from the rack. No portion of the mounting tab will remain on the rack when the slit is ruptured.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,235 issued to Pierce et al. describes a bag pack including a central mounting tab. The mounting tab includes a mounting slit having a pair of upward curving slits extending toward the bag mouth. The upward curving slits provide means for rupturing the mounting slit upon removal of the bag from a rack, thus leaving no protion of the mounting tab on the rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,310 also issued to Nguyen discloses a T-shirt style shopping bag with central mounting tab. This mounting tab includes a curved mounting slit that begins in the center of the tab and terminates close to an edge of the tab nearest the bag mouth. This bag is also designed to leave no portion of the mounting tab on the dispensing rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,655 issued to Tseng et al., discloses a plastic bag stack with a tab opening that incorporates an upwardly curving cut extending from the slit in the mounting tab that can be most easily torn by the adapter. Other designs of t-shirt style bags incorporating a rupturable central mounting tab can also be used with the adapter.
While other variations exist, the above-described designs for roll mounted bags and dispensers are typical of those encountered in the prior art.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a T-shirt type produce bag that can be mounted on a continuous roll. It is a further objective to provide such a bag that can be easily and inexpensively manufactured in a variety of sizes. It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a bag that can be easily opened. It is yet a further objective to provide for bags that a user can easily identify as to the open end. In is another objective of the invention to provide a dispenser that can conveniently store the bags and that can separate the bags upon dispensing. Finally, it is an objective of the invention that the dispenser be capable of opening the bags for the user.
While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified. The present invention addresses many of the deficiencies of prior art roll mounted bags and dispensers and satisfies all of the objectives described above.
An adapter for a dispensing rack for T-shirt style bags with tab openings providing a rupturable portion of the tab between the tab opening and the bag mouth including the desired features may be constructed from the following components. The dispensing rack for use with such bags includes first and second support arms, a central mounting hook disposed between the support arms, and means for maintaining the support arms at a first predetermined elevation and the mounting hook at a second predetermined elevation. The adapter includes a hollow body. The body includes a cavity that is sized and shaped to fit frictionally over the central mounting hook.
The body has a front surface, a top surface, a bottom surface, first and second side edges and a back surface. The back surface includes a vertically oriented tearing ridge. The adapter""s cavity is fitted over the central mounting hook with the front surface facing a direction in which the support arms extend. When a pack of T-shirt style bags that have the tab opening with a rupturable portion mounted on the support arms with the tab openings of the bags placed over the adapter, the tearing ridge will serve to facilitate tearing the rupturable portion of the mounting tab as a bag is removed from the dispensing rack so that the mounting tab will remain attached to the bag.
In a variant of the invention, the top surface of the adapter is rounded to facilitate mounting the tab openings of the bags over the adapter.
In a further variant, the first and second side edges of the adapter taper upwardly toward the top surface to facilitate mounting the tab openings of the bags over the adapter. These tapered side edges also serve to direct the vertically oriented tearing ridge into the rupturable portion of the mounting tab as bags are mounted on the dispensing rack.
In still a further variant, the cavity of the adapter includes a front wall, a back wall, first and second side walls and a top wall. A vertical channel extends from the bottom surface to the top wall and penetrates for a first predetermined depth into the front wall and the back wall of the cavity. When the adapter is installed over the central mounting hook of the dispensing rack, the vertical channel will facilitate such installation.
In another variant of the invention, the hollow body of the adapter includes an opening. The opening penetrates from the front surface to the cavity and serves to release air pressure as the adapter is fitted over the central mounting hook.
In still another variant, an adapter is designed for use with a dispensing rack that first and second support arms, a central mounting hook disposed between the support arms, a horizontal rod connecting the first and second support arms and the central mounting hook and means for maintaining the support arms at the first predetermined elevation and the mounting hook at the second predetermined elevation.
The adapter includes a hollow body having a cavity. The cavity is sized and shaped to fit frictionally over the central mounting hook. The body has a front surface, a top surface, a bottom surface, first and second side edges and a back surface. The back surface includes a vertically oriented tearing ridge. When the adapter""s cavity is fitted over the central mounting hook with the front surface facing a direction in which the support arms extend and a pack of T-shirt style bags having the tab opening with a rupturable portion are mounted on the support arms with the tab openings of the bags located over the adapter, the tearing ridge will serve to facilitate tearing the rupturable portion of the mounting tab as a bag is removed from the dispensing rack so that the mounting tab will remain attached to the bag.
In yet another variant, the adapter includes a transverse channel. The transverse channel is parallel to the bottom surface of the body and is sized and shaped to fit frictionally over the horizontal rod connecting said first and second support arms and the central mounting hook. When the adapter is installed over the central mounting hook the transverse channel will engage the horizontal rod, thereby further stabilizing the adapter upon the dispensing rack.
In still a further variant of the invention, the top surface of the body is rounded to facilitate mounting the tab openings of the bags over the adapter. In yet a further variant, the first and second side edges of the body taper upwardly toward a top surface to facilitate mounting the tab openings of the bags over the adapter and to direct a vertically oriented tearing ridge into the rupturable portion of the mounting tab as bags are mounted on the dispensing rack.
In still another variant a cavity in the adapter includes a front wall, a back wall, first and second side walls and a top wall. A vertical channel extends from the bottom surface of the body to the top wall and penetrates for a first predetermined depth into the front wall and the back wall of the cavity. When the adapter is installed over the central mounting hook of the dispensing rack, the vertical channel will facilitate such installation.
In a final variant of the invention, the adapter includes an opening. The opening penetrates from the front surface of the body to the cavity and serves to release air pressure as the adapter is fitted over the central mounting hook.